You can use Data Rescue (99USD) to scan your HDD and recover lost data. It will work most of the time, unless the data has been overwritten, so I recommend stopping any kind of write activities to your iMac's HDD.
You might need to use another Mac or boot from an external HDD to scan your internal HDD.

I unfortunately deleted an account on my imac that had all my email, docs, etc. Can anyone help me retrieve?

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That depends how you deleted it. By default, when you delete an account in Mac OS X (through  -> System Preferences -> Accounts), the account's home folder and its contents will remain intact, and recovery is simply a matter of recreating the account. Is the home folder still there? Is there a Deleted Users folder inside /Users?

Do not remake the account, stop using the drive immediately. Invest in some recovery software and let it run.

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You're correct that the OP should check for a Deleted Users folder and see if the account in question has a disk image in there BEFORE recreating the account--if it's NOT in there, you don't want to be doing ANYTHING on the computer to maximize the chance of getting stuff back with data salvage software.

If, however, they DO have the data in the Deleted Users folder, then data recovery software is completely unnecessary, since the data is fine.

An earlier version of the app has saved files that nothing else would, and I've never heard a recommendation for a better piece of Mac software.. There's a free trial that lets you see what it'll be able to recover before you pay, too.

Good luck, and remember, the more you use the computer, the less likely you'll be able to recover files. Ideally, get a second Mac and mount the drive of the one with the deleted account via either Firewire Target Disk Mode, or pull the drive and use an external case/USB adapter.

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